Dolphins Rewind: Offense happy with the win over Bengals, but not satisfied with performance

CINCINNATI – Brian Hartline had every reason to smile Sunday afternoon in the post-game locker room.

Just 20 minutes earlier, his Dolphins finished their game against the Bengals in victory formation, taking a knee to seal their come-from-behind, 22-14 victory and pushing their record above .500 at 4-3.

Brian Hartline and the Dolphins offense know they need to be more consistent / Allen Eyestone, Post staff

About an hour earlier, Hartline made two huge plays on the Dolphins’ game-clinching scoring drive – a 24-yard catch on a simple hitch pass, and a 30-yard end-around that brought the Dolphins down to the Red Zone.

And he did it in front of about 40 friends and family members, who had come from
Columbus and Canton and Dayton and various places around Ohio, the state where he grew up and starred in college.

When I entered the locker room after the game, Hartline was the first player I approached to talk about the offense. I congratulated him on the win and his two big plays. Hartline, though, wasn’t focused on all of the positives on Sunday. He was still dwelling over the pass he dropped over the middle in the third quarter, which could have led to a huge gain and help put the game away earlier.

“What frustrates me still is we have a chance to completely put the ball away as an offense, and we didn’t, we gave the ball back,” Hartline said. “I knew I was open, I knew I was going to run after the catch, and I took my eyes off the ball for a split second and I made a mistake. I’ll kick myself over and over again until, well, forever, over that one. You live and learn, and I won’t make that mistake ever again.”

Hartline, of course, was happy with the victory. A win can never be taken for granted in the NFL. But what frustrates Hartline, and many of his offensive teammates, are that the Dolphins show flashes of having a dominant offense – like they did in a six-play, 96-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to seal the win – but can’t do it consistently.

Through seven games this year, the Dolphins still have yet to score more than two touchdowns in a game. They have just seven Red Zone touchdowns, fewest in the NFL, in 15 attempts. In three games since the bye, the Dolphins have scored four touchdowns and kicked 13 field goals. And all four of their wins this year have been by one score.

“I think a lot of times we’re not consistent as a group, and that affects us,” said Ronnie Brown, who still doesn’t have a 100-yard game this year but combined with Ricky Williams to rush for 108 yards on 4.32 yards per carry. “We finally played the way we’re capable of playing (on that drive). Now we just got to be consistent at doing those things, and expect to do those things, not be surprised by it. We can’t be surprised by success. You got to expect it.”

Tony Sparano admitted after the game that he is “concerned” about the offense. “Without the 15 points from the kicker, we don’t win the game,” Sparano said.

Hartline’s self-criticism, though, surprised me. Players are supposed to be happy after pulling off a tough win on the road, especially after coming from behind.

“So don’t blame the media for always being negative,” I told him.

“You guys can’t ever be as hard on us as we are on ourselves,” Hartline answered back.

“That (96-yard drive) was good, but I mean, we expect that. So when we do it, it’s not as exciting, but when we don’t do it, it’s that much more frustrating.”

OLs Jake Long, Richie Incognito, Joe Berger, John Jerry, Vernon Carey
The offensive linemen were the undisputed stars of the offense on Sunday. Chad Henne had his cleanest uniform of the season – no sacks, and just one official hit all day. And Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams rushed for 108 yards on 4.3 yards per carry to get the running game back on track. Henne has been sacked just 10 times through seven games, tied for sixth-fewest among all quarterbacks.

WRs Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess and Brian Hartline
None of them were dominant, but once again all three were solid and consistent – Marshall caught 5 of 7 for 64 yards, Bess caught 7 of 9 passes for 53 yards and Hartline caught 5 of 8 for 53 yards. And each of them, finally, had a long catch – Marshall had a 25-yarder, Hartline went for 24 and Bess had a 20-yarder.

CB Benny Sapp
The Dolphins’ nickel corner was running all over the field on Sunday, leading the Dolphins with 10 tackles and an impressive tackle for minus-7 yards on a run blitz in the fourth quarter.

DBs Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, Yeremiah Bell and Chris Clemons
The opening drive and wacky 37-yard touchdown to Terrell Owens aside, the defensive backs and pass coverage in general were dominant on Sunday. Carson Palmer started the game 6 of 7 for 65 yards and a touchdown, and the rest of the way went 10 for 30 for 91 yards and an interception. The Dolphins batted down a season-high 11 passes, six of them by the four DBs listed above. Bell also had nine tackles.

Kicker Dan Carpenter
Mr. Automatic nailed five more field goals – including a career-high 54-yarder – for the second week in a row, joining John Kasay, John Carney and Richie Cunningham as the only kickers in NFL history to accomplish the feat. Carpenter’s 10 field goals over two games ties Olindo Mare’s team record, and he is 13-for-13 in the last three games since the bye. Carpenter, a 2008 Pro Bowler, is 18-for-20 on field goals this season, and one of his misses was a blocked kick on a 53-yarder against the Patriots.

INJURY UPDATE
LB Channing Crowder suffered a right thumb injury, but played with it for most of the game. … Jake Long missed a few snaps in the third quarter with a right knee injury, but returned to the game. Long also slightly injured his left knee in the preseason. … Kickoff returner Nolan Carroll was inactive after rolling his left ankle last week against Pittsburgh… Safety Reshad Jones injured his knee against the Steelers and was inactive Sunday. … The Dolphins otherwise emerged from the game healthy.

LINEUP MOVESJason Allen earned the start at cornerback, but was replaced by Sean Smith on the second series after getting burned multiple times by Terrell Owens. Allen barely played in pass coverage the rest of the game, while Smith secured his first NFL interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the win. … Davone Bess officially replaced Brian Hartline as the No. 2 receiver in the lineup, and Hartline earned a bit of a demotion in the first half, losing snaps to rookie Roberto Wallace. But Wallace did not catch a pass, and Hartline, not Wallace, was getting the reps in the fourth quarter. … John Jerry regained the starting right job, taking it back from Pat McQuistan. Jerry had been inactive the previous four games because of illness and subsequently needing to catch up with the starters. He also played a little on the field goal team for the first time. McQuistan subbed for Long for the few plays he had to sit out.

QUICK SLANTS

— The Dolphins improved to 4-0 on the road and 5-0 all-time on Halloween.

— It wasn’t exactly the stuff of Knute Rockne, but Channing Crowder gave the offense a little speech before their game-clinching touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter.

“I said, ‘If we get the ball back, y’all are going to keep it and win the game,” Crowder said. “They’re not going to be like, ‘No, we can’t score,’ but I just try to encourage them.”

— Nice day of redemption for CB Sean Smith, who played 90 percent of the game at the No. 2 corner spot and also came down with his first interception – finally – in his 22nd NFL game.

Smith, a 2009 second-round pick, started all 16 games last year as a rookie, but didn’t live up to the hype this training camp and lost his job to Jason Allen before the regular season. He didn’t even play in the Week 1 win at Buffalo, and played just a handful of snaps in the “Dime” defense in the next two games.

Sunday, not only did Smith re-claim his job, but also iced the game with his interception late in the fourth quarter. After the game, Smith was asked to do a phone interview with Sirius NFL Radio, and had 16 missed calls and 34 text messages waiting for him.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” Smith said.

— The people of Cincinnati are really down on their Bengals — again. They are 2-5, in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and the stadium emptied out with more than 9 minutes remaining Sunday, which was a one-score game. Here’s a bumper sticker I found at the Montgomery Inn, which is a terrific BBQ place if you’re ever in Cincinnati:

Ouch.

— Another up-and-down day for Chad Henne: An efficient 24-of-37 passing (64.9 percent), but for only 217 yards (5.86 yards per attempt) and one bad interception in the second quarter, giving the Bengals the ball on the 37-yard line. He did take the Dolphins 96 yards in the fourth quarter – with an impressive 25-yard pass from his own 2-yard line – but the Dolphins scored just one touchdown in 11 drives, against a Cincinnati defense playing without three starting defensive backs. “The biggest thing is we came away with points,” Henne said. “And we protected the ball down there. We didn’t give them any opportunities. We just have to go back and keep grinding in the Red Zone and see if we can come away with more touchdowns.”

— A rare mental mistake by Davone Bess, who allowed a punt to bounce off the turf and glance off his hand for a fumble, which was recovered by Cincinnati.

— A bizarre play by Roberto Wallace in the first quarter. On third-and-9 from Cincinnati’s 20, Wallace ran out of bounds – like, way out of bounds – and was called for a penalty when he was the first player to touch Henne’s lob pass in the end zone. “The play was really designed for me to clear room for Brandon,” Wallace said. “They played the right coverage, Cover 2, and it was really tight out there. I was not expecting the ball, even before the play started.”

— And a real ticky-tack call for roughing the passer against Kendall Langford in the fourth quarter, who barely glanced Carson Palmer’s face mask with his hand at the end of the play. I can’t tell you what Langford called the penalty, but it rhymed with “bullspit.”

— Nice job by the Dolphins’ run defense to make an adjustment at halftime. The Bengals rushed for 80 yards on 4.7 yards per carry in the first half, but just 26 yards on 2.89 yards per carry in the second half.

— Marshall is on pace for 107 catches this season, which would be a new franchise record, and Bess is on pace for 89.

— Chris Clemons is beating himself up over Owens’ 37-yard touchdown, which was a total gift for TO. Clemons should have intercepted the pass, but knocked the ball out of his hands with his knee, then batted it up in the air for Owens, who plucked it away and danced into the end zone.

— The Dolphins struggled early against the Bengals’ offense, which marched 86 yards in 15 plays to open the game and scored an easy touchdown on a 7-yard slant pass to Owens. But the Bengals gained just 191 yards in their other 11 possessions, with a stretch of nine three-and-outs in 10 series.

“You have those first 12, 15 plays that you went over Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,” Crowder said of the Bengals’ offense. “You’ve got those down pat. You don’t even have to call a play.

“But after those were done, and they scored, they had to settle down and call against our defense. Coach Nolan was making great calls and we started shutting them down.”

— The Dolphins also prepared all week for the Bengals’ quick-snap, no-huddle offense. Sparano noted that the pace of the Dolphins’ practice was so fast last week, they ended practice every day about 7 minutes early.

— An incredibly quiet day for Owens and Chad Ochocinco. Yes, Owens had two touchdowns, but combined the two had eight catches in 20 targets for 99 yards. And slot receiver Jordan Shipley had just three catches for 28 yards.

— Marshall has just two 100-yard games this year, but he said he isn’t getting frustrated with his numbers, and in fact he was proud of Hartline for the way he responded in the second half.

“Cincinnati did a great job of trying to bracket me and Davone in situations where they knew we were passing, and (Hartline) did a good job of taking over the game,” Marshall said. “He did good job of showing not only the world, but his teammates, that we can count on him in those situations, so hat’s off to him.”

It took Ricky Williams 7 games, but he finally found the end zone Sunday / Allen Eyestone, Post staff